Changing careers after age fifty used to be uncommon, but as social norms and economic realities shift, more and more people are finding it necessary or desirable to make a late-life change. No matter why you decide to change careers, it's important to prepare yourself for the realities of the job market, which may have changed drastically since you last sought work.

Steps

Part 1

Making the Decision

1

Take your time. The decision to switch careers is likely to affect your financial security and quality of life for the rest of your working days, so you should take your time and make a wise decision.

If you are already employed elsewhere, don't quit your job or announce your plans to quit until you have your next career plans secured. If you fail to find a second position, your employer is likely to view you as unreliable, and any employees who are under your supervision may lose faith in your directives.

2

Assess your situation. There could be a number of reasons why you may want to change careers later in life: seeking a lifestyle change, looking for higher compensation, coming out of retirement, or following life-long career goals. Regardless of your decisions, make sure that your choice is financially feasible.

Think about what it is that makes you consider a career change. If you find yourself unhappy with your coworkers, boss, or company, it's possible that a job change might be enough to give you more satisfaction, rather than changing your entire career. A career change might be better if you find that your current work does not make use of your skills, or is unfulfilling more generally.[1]

Most workers retire right around age 70,[2] which gives you less than 20 years to prepare a nest egg. Switching careers means you might sacrifice seniority (and the paycheck that comes with it) as you enter a new career in a junior position.[3] Consider whether you are sacrificing financial stability by changing careers.

If your current position is not setting you up for financial freedom during retirement, a new position might be right for you.[4]

If you have recently found yourself without a job due to cutbacks or other conditions out of your control, this might be an ideal time to explore other career options, provided you can get by without an income while you obtain any necessary certifications and hunt for a new position. Check to see if your former employer offers career counseling in layoff situations, which can be beneficial as you think through your options.

3

Talk to those you love. Talking with trusted friends, family, or mentors can help you assess your situation from multiple perspectives, which can help give you insight not only into whether changing careers is a good choice for you, but also into what your viable alternatives might be.

Friends and family with vested interests in your financial success (like a spouse, dependent children, or heirs) might not have neutral opinions, but they still might be able to offer input that you had not considered.

A neutral third party mentor might be best positioned to assess your situation and give you feedback. Consider contacting a career counselor. If you are a university graduate, call your university's Office of Career Services and ask if you can schedule a meeting in person or via Skype.

Part 2

Choosing Your Next Path

1

Consider your experiences, qualifications, and skills. Your next career path should maximize the things you're good at, and give you an opportunity to enjoy your work, while also providing financial security for your later years.

The majority of people entering an "encore career" later in life go into the fields of education, healthcare, government, and non-profit.[5] Of course, these are not your only options, but great places to get started in your search.

Determine if you need additional education, training, or certification. Major career changes might require additional qualifications that you don't currently have, and if the process is very costly or time consuming, you need to determine whether the payoff will be worth it.

For example, if you do not already hold an advanced degree but decide to become a university professor, you will have to go through five or more years of graduate school (which can cost tens of thousands of dollars) followed by six or more years in the tenure track before you obtain job security. Depending on your age, it may not be feasible or practical to accrue debt in order to switch careers.

Other career changes, such as a change from teaching to school administration, may only require a certification exam and license.

3

Think about other obstacles you may encounter. Entering a new career at an older age can have unexpected drawbacks and challenges, and these can vary by industry, so be sure you talk with a trusted adviser about the field you are considering.

Prepare for possible discrimination in the hiring process. While age-based discrimination is illegal, it is still common. Job ads are often coded to indicate that the company seeks a younger employee, using language like "energetic" or "fresh" as code for "young." Some places routinely hire only young employees, such as Facebook, whose employees have a median age of 28.[6]

Even when you land the job, you are likely to be perceived as less technologically advanced simply because of your age.[7] You can mitigate some of this concern by polishing up your digital presence and taking courses at the local community college in any specific software or hardware you might need to know in your chosen field.

Part 3

Marketing Yourself for a New Position

1

Prepare yourself for the job-hunting process. It may have been years since you last updated your portfolio or resume, so getting everything in order is crucial before you begin applying.

Most applications are done online, so you will need access to high speed internet service and the ability to upload relevant documents.

You will need a cover letter for each job you apply to. Writing cover letters can be very time-consuming, so to expedite the process, write a generic cover letter which can be customized depending on the specifics of the job responsibilities.

You will need a resume, updated with every position you have held. If you are changing industries or seeking a very different position than you held previously, consider writing a functional resume rather than a chronological one. A functional resume highlights your skills and abilities and how they fit together to qualify you for a position.

2

Polish up your digital presence. More and more, potential employers locate candidates for positions through internet sites or at the very least vet potential candidates by looking online. Your "digital presence" is the impression of you that others receive when they read everything about you that is available online.

Start by going to www.google.com, the main internet search engine, and typing in your name in quotations plus your location (for example: "john doe" Athens, Georgia). If you have a very common name, you might have to enter more details, like your previous employer ("john doe" university of Georgia). If nothing shows up at all on the first page or two of results that is about you, you have no digital presence and need to start from scratch.

Depending on your field, having no digital presence might indicate to a potential employer that you are out of date. If the career you are considering has anything to do with technology in particular, start working on a strong digital presence.

Start by creating a Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+ profile. In your privacy settings on these websites, be sure to select to allow your profile to be shown in search engine results. Only use professionally done and flattering images of yourself as profile pictures; be sure that any personal, unprofessional, or unflattering images or details about yourself are kept private in your privacy settings (or better yet, are not there at all). Create some publicly visible postings that engage with current issues in your field.

Consider creating a website. If your name is available as a domain, you can register it and develop it into your own professional website using a hosting company like www.wordpress.org. Visit this helpful wikiHow page to learn more about how to create and design a website.

3

Locate open positions. The process of job hunting has changed a great deal in the last several years, as more and more companies have moved to digital methods for announcing positions and collecting resumes.

Network on and offline, as often who you know is as important as what you know when it comes to finding a job. Facebook and www.linkedin.com are great places to get started.

Try using websites devoted to jobs in the field that you are interested in, or more general and large-scale websites like www.indeed.com and www.monster.com which tend to carry job advertisements for all fields.

4

Market yourself. As you prepare your job materials, remember that you are in a very competitive job market, and as an older candidate you will have to go to greater lengths to prove that you are the best candidate for the job.

As an older worker in a very competitive job market, one advantage that you will always have over younger competition is your experience. In your cover letters and resume, you need to list the skills you've gained over the years and the responsibilities you've held.

Show your versatility, too. Since you are changing careers, show how the work you've done in the past, though different, has prepared you for the work you are seeking.

Take your time and wait for the right opportunity. Don't flee a stable job irrationally. If you really want to change careers, wait for the opportunity you've dreamed about to come along. Exercising patience will very likely pay off by the end of your job hunt.